With many of this season's new shows that seem to squander a lot of talent and/or an interesting premise, it's hard to know where to start in figuring out how to fix them. With CBS' new vigilante drama "Person of Interest" (which debuts tomorrow night at 9), the solution is simple:

Someone needs to buy star Jim Caviezel an alarm clock, or find some other way to wake him up.

In "Person of Interest," Caviezel plays Reese, former elite Special Forces operative who's lost his faith, soul and reason to live, thanks to a mystery trauma we'll get the full details on later. He's become one of those disturbing, borderline-catatonic homeless people you sometimes see riding the subway, but all his skills are intact - as a bunch of Russian-American mobsters find out when they try to hassle him on the train.

Reese's attack on the local criminal talent brings him to the attention of the mysterious Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson), a reclusive, impossibly wealthy man who helped the government build a machine that - by turning every video camera, cell phone and other audio or visual signal in our lives, into a giant spy network - could predict crimes before they happen. In the wake of 9/11, the machine was designed to predict terrorist attacks, but Finch has a backdoor into the system that allows him to learn about people who may be involved in smaller-scale crimes. Because he's hacking in, the system gives him only Social Security numbers rather than names(*), and can't tell him whether the people in question will be the victims or perpetrators of a crime, but it's a starting point for him to get proactive on crime.

(*) Both of the machine's limitations seem a bit silly, but at least the latter helps generate suspense: is the person of interest a good guy or a bad guy?. The pilot, at least, doesn't suggest that Finch has any trouble getting a name once he has the SS# in hand.

"So many crimes are planned days, weeks in advance," he tells Reese. "What if you could stop those?"

It's an appealing idea, if not a revolutionary one. "Person of Interest" is essentially "The Equalizer" by way of the sequence in "The Dark Knight" - which was co-written by this series' creator, Jonathan Nolan - where Batman hacks every cell phone in Gotham to create his own surveillance network. With Emerson playing a more benevolent version of his Ben Linus character from "Lost," and good use of the New York location and its omnipresent cameras and phones, there's a potentially good show here.

The problem is that Caviezel seems barely awake, well after Reese shaves off his hobo beard and starts working with Finch to administer some unofficial justice. He delivers every line in the same affect-less whisper, and whether he's doing a poor Clint Eastwood impression or trying to portray his character's emotionally anesthetized state, the performance is a black hole, sucking in all the entertainment value and crushing it into tiny atom-sized particles.

There are several scenes in the pilot where Reese is carving his way through opponents, each ending with an action kiss-off line that's designed to generate a laugh or a feeling of triumph. And if Caviezel gave the lines even the slightest hint of energy, they would. But what he and/or the producers might view as nihilistic cool instead comes across like an actor phoning it in.

There's also a subplot involving Taraji P. Henson as an NYPD detective looking into whatever Reese is up to. It's unclear whether her character will spend the series trying and failing to catch these pesky vigilantes, or if she's destined to join the team within a few episodes. Whatever the plan is, I hope it's something that gets her front and center quickly, because she clearly has a pulse when the camera's on her. Also, her character is inquisitive in a way that Reese really isn't, and as we learned from "Lost," the archetypal Michael Emerson character works best when he's paired with someone who keeps questioning him - even if he never gives satisfactory answers.

Despite the presence of Nolan (who's co-written most of his brother Christopher's films, including "Memento" and "The Prestige") and producer J.J. Abrams, this is very much a CBS crime procedural, one that could fit comfortably alongside "The Mentalist," et al. But it would help an awful lot if Caviezel had a few Red Bulls first.

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

The show is refreshing, tense, witty, good action scenes, good characters and plots. And Jim Caveizel plays his role exactly right! People in his supposed former line of work don't do the big emotion, brag, swagger and are generally VERY tight lipped. Jim's doesn't look lazy - he is intense and self contained which is pitch perfect as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I can't take my eyes off him. Not just because he is very handsome, but because his subtleness of expression makes him a smart actor. I think the three principle actors are inspired casting. I am one of many who can't wait for Thursday nights!

I've seen a bunch of promo ads for this show and follow TV news regularly and this is the first time I'm hearing that Taraji Henson (an Oscar-nominated actress with a few high profile, successful movies under her belt) is starring in this series. What's up with that?

Great Show! If you are a fan of the movie "Taken" then you'll love this new show from CBS. I was a big fan of 24, but this new series with take the Action genre to a new level. Can't wait for the next episode!!!

What? I thought Jim Caviezel was great. He is traumatized so his portrayal being less than perky seems very appropriate. He has been out of the world for awhile, so speaking in low whisperish tone seems natural to me. I totally disagree with the reviewer.

I think that's just the way Caviezel is. I never saw Mel's Magic Movie about Christ, but I have seen Count of Monte Cristo a few times and Caviezel was pretty much as affectless in that as he was here in this show, with an occasional moment of emotional outburst that lasted on average of 2.4 seconds.

But I like this show and if Jesus Christ wants to run around being a quiet crusader on Ben Linus's dime, I'm in.

This show was exactly what I thought it was going to be which was awesome. The critic here Mr. Sepinwall could not be more wrong, Jim Caviezel acted great in the pilot episode and I look forward to seeing more of this series. I like Jim Caviezel, he is a terrific actor and really makes this series. I have already schedule this show to record every week on my DVR. The pilot was crazy good, I love the action and the suspense of not knowing if the SSN is the victim or the person doing the crime. Great show, a must see!

Funny... she (the lady cop) was the only thing I DIDN'T like about the show. She sucks. NO chemistry and she can't act... a pulse is about all she had and she didn't have much of that. I loved how Jim portrayed his character. He acted like he should have acted for a broken down shell of a man. For those of us who have been there or seen it, it was spot on. I'm sure they'll either ruin it or take it away... because it's actually a good show. It won't be for very long if they don't pick her off though. It'll be just like Agent Kaye ruining Hawaii 5-0 and killing the chemistry (she's not even a good bad guy). That is all. :)

Disagree there. I've never seen her before, but Haraji Henson I think is playing her role well. She even mentioned in an interview that she's releived that her character has moved from chasing Reese. I find her face fascinating and expressive. I like the character she has created and the way she plays her. Tough, down to earth, smart, compassionate. She's real.

Funny... the only thing I DIDN'T like about the show was that horrible lady cop. A pulse is about all she had. I loved the way Jim portrayed his character. He acted exactly like the shell of a man who had lost everything and had nothing to live for. For those of us who have lived it or seen it in real life, he was spot on. I don't want him to act like every other boob on every other sucky show. I'm sure they'll either cancel it or ruin soon anyway, because it's actually good. It won't be for long if they don't pick her off though. It'll be like Agent Kaye joining Hawaii 5-0 and killing the chemistry. She's not even a good bad guy lol.

Didn't mean to post twice! When I tried to post the first time the site told me the captcha was wrong and it didn't show up in the timeline, so I posted again... then they BOTH showed up and it won't let me delete one of them! Sorry! :)

Wow, I strongly disagree with your assessment of Jim Caviezel's acting---thought he did a great job. There is a lot to be said for not overacting. Loved him and Michael Emerson. I will definitely be watching each week.

I don't agree with this article. I think James made a very cool lead actor. His character is awesome and I love this show. A lead who doesn't have half measures and teams up with another intelligent guy is not something you see on tv every week! The way he takes care of business, the dialogue delivery is brilliant. And after 2 episodes, I can confidently say POI is the BEST NEW SHOW this fall.

This is a terrific show! By far the best of the new offerings, I can't get enough of it. A++ from me. Kudos to CBS and keep it up! Great set up, great production quality and scripts, and terrific casting.

I don't agree. I think Jim Cavievel is very laid back, but that it's part of the character's 'broken soul.' I also think Special Forces guys are not all hyped-up. They blend in. I think it's part of his character's discipline. That's also Caviezel's natural speaking voice, he's just not loud. I'm glad for a show that's not all wham-bam explosions and fast edits. That's such a cheap way to get so-called 'excitement'. Nice to have something more cerebral. He's also got depth (both the character and the actor). And besides, he's the most gorgeous man on any screen right now. Aye carumba, what a stud! Something for my brain, soul, and body. Yay!!!

I've watched 3 episodes so far and love it! I think Caviezel fits the role well, I liked him in Frequency with Dennis Quaid, I hope this show makes it and doesn't get cancelled. So far I like the plots and twists of the first few episodes.